Solon decries PCGG commissioner call for UP Law Center abolition because of its study on NorthRail Project

Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran today decried the statement of Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) commissioner Ricardo Abcede that the UP Law Center should be abolished because it was plotting to bring down the government. The aforementioned institution has recently come up with a study pointing out the anomalies in the Arroyo government’s contract with China regarding the controversial North Rail project. The UP Law Center has recommended the filing of civil, criminal and administrative charges against the proponents of the said project.

“Abcede’s the one who should resign for making such a recommendation. He should’ve known better to make such a recommendation considering that he’s a commissioner at the PCGG which is supposed to be an agency watching out for corruption in government. Instead of attacking the UP Law Center for coming up with its position paper pointing out the contract’s countless anomalies and violations of various laws, Abcede should be assisting the said agency and pushing for full investigations into the contract,” he said.

The veteran labor leader turned legislator said that the Abcede’s accusation that the UP Law Center was part of the campaign to remove Mrs. Arroyo from office and thus should be abolished was reminiscent of the statements of former cronies of the dictator Ferdinan Marcos. He said that during the dictatorship, all newspapers and institutions who dared speak up against the dictatorship and expose the anomalies it was involved in were shut down and its officials and staff targeted for arrest.

“Abcede must have taken his cue from somebody from Malacanang. It’s evident that he’s speaking up for the two highest officials of the land who are mainly responsible for this infamous North Rail Project that’s steeped in anomalies. Abcede has been until recently a non-entity, yet now here he is speaking for the vice-president Noli de Castro and the illegitimate president Gloria Arroyo,’ he said.

“So what’s next – will Abcede and other minor minions like him demand the abolition of the Minority in Congress and the senate because their members are very vocal in denouncing Malacanang and demand the resignation of the corrupt and illegitimate president? “

Finally, Beltran said that even if the UP Law Center made errors in the paper it presented to the Senate, this by no means negate the rest of the content of the paper and its conclusion that the Northrail project is anomalous and should be scrapped. “The paper has certainly made an impact – enough so that vice-president de Castro broke his usual silence and spoke up. The fact that he has reacted to the paper is enough basis to continue investigations into the Northrail project. De Castro himself should be investigated for the way the demolition of communities connected to the project is being implemented,” he said. #